Beyond The Fog Radio

Peña Pachamama was recently deemed a San Francisco Legacy Restaurant– and for a very good reason. For 25 years, founders Quentin and Eddy Navia have cultivated this Bolivian vegan restaurant, bar and performance space into a San Francisco landmark with all flavors of Latin music bursting through its doors. Not only does this magical night spot feature artists from all over the world, but well-know...

San Francisco residents Anna Chiu and Valerie Santillo are fashion designers, business partners and close friends. Together they started KAMPERETT, a womenswear label whose name is an inspired blend of their mothers’ maiden names. They focus on designing elegant yet effortlessly chic pieces for discerning women, and all of their pieces are made with the highest quality materials in ethically run f...

In 1960’s San Francisco, the “Color Movement” swept across the city’s architectural landscape. Victorians and Edwardians were painted in bright fanciful colors as an homage to the psychedelic colorscape of the LSD experience. Inspired by this, architectural color designer Bob Buckter, aka Dr. Color, carried this movement into the 70’s and on. As his style transformed over the decades, Bob’s unique...

Matt Hollis is the Principal and Lead Architect at MH Architects. This San Francisco Native got his start in design as early as childhood, learning building from his father and graphic design and illustration from his mother. Having also lived abroad in Japan, Hollis developed a keen sense for design and structure that was influenced by the nature-inspired clean subtle lines of Japanese design. At...

We kick off our Home and Design Series with siblings Tracy, Kelly and Jonathan Dearman — titans of the San Francisco Bay Area real estate scene. The Dearman Real Estate Group was founded by Jonathan, though the origins of his family’s business go back to the 1950s when his grandmother, Bertha Flemming, provided real estate services throughout the Bay Area. She was one of the first African-American...

Kathy Fang is a renowned Contemporary Chef, On-Air Personality, and a San Francisco native. Kathy’s passion for cooking began as a child in her family’s popular SF restaurant House of Nanking, where her father taught her how to cook. As an adult, Kathy and her father opened Fang Restaurant with Kathy herself as Chef. Here she would realize her dream of creating easy, delicious and healthy dishes w...

As always, we end our series with a bit of food! This week we sat down with Cherith Spencer, baker and owner of Namesake Cheesecake in Menlo Park. Her business started when she was given singular access to the secret cheesecake recipe of a dear family friend for whom she was named. Cherith promised to honor her friend by opening Namesake Cheesecake, and today she shares her delicious cheesecake wi...

Barbara Bogatin is a master cellist, a teacher of meditation and music, and a Bay Area native. She attended the Juilliard School, receiving both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Music. She’s played for the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein, and many more across the United States. In 1994, she returned home to play with the San Francisco Symphony....

Victoria and Paul Ehrlich are a musical power couple. Both classical string instrumentalists, the two have played in top orchestras across the Bay Area. Vicky plays cello and has been with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra for nearly 40 years. She’s likewise an Artist in Residence at the Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts. Paul played Principal Viola for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra for 20 yea...

Nicholas A. Garcia is the Director of Pocket Opera, a chamber opera company in San Francisco. Garcia has been extensively involved with Pocket Opera, first as a performer and then as General Director after the passing of its founder Donald Pippin in 2021. Although it’s small compared to other opera companies on this foggy peninsula, Pocket Opera created a niche that has helped it thrive since its...

When thinking of Harlan Hays, music almost immediately comes to mind. His whole life all he’s wanted to do is sing. Growing up in San Francisco, Harlan had access to the rich musical world of his home city and asked his parents to join the San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) when he was only 8 years old. For nearly 25 years he’s been part of SFBC, working now as a voice teacher and Director of the Gr...

Beautiful, athletic and graceful, ballet dancers have discipline that is unmatched by most other professions. Dancers at San Francisco Ballet have just this and more. Our guests this week dance with SF Ballet, Max Cauthorn a Principal Dancer and Luca Ferrò a member of Corps de Ballet. The two have both originated roles and soloed in classics, all with keen artistic sensibility and intense athletic...

Michael Belle is a Tenor with the coveted San Francisco Opera Chorus. Starting with a trade for free voice lessons, Michael was drawn to the artistic life of a classical musician. From singing the chorus in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Porgy and Bess to performing leads in productions across New England, Michael’s career only bloomed until landing a spot in the world famous San Francisco Opera Chorus...

Stanlee Gatti is San Francisco’s premier event designer and art administrator. Known to be one of the best of his trade, Gatti’s designs are unique, innovative and artistic. He challenged the city’s traditionally conservative taste in public art by bringing Keith Haring sculptures to the Moscone Center, and threw some of the city’s most lavish parties. In 2008 Gatti founded the SF-based art and de...

Innovative designer Julienne Weston is a Bay Area native and founder-owner of Weston Wear, a fashion boutique in SF’s Mission District. A lifelong dancer, Julie combined beautiful clothing designs with flexible dancewear using cotton lycra, a nearly undiscovered fabric at the time. With her dance-fashion concept, Julienne established Weston Wear in 1981. For 36 years, she designed and manufactured...

John Anderson is as lovely and charming as his home state of Texas, his taste in residential design just the same. As principal designer of John K. Anderson (JKA) Design, John takes a personal approach to every client’s home, listening to their needs and desires so that every client’s unique flair can shine through. His experience spans more than 25 years of residential design in San Francisco, wo...

Dorian Webb is an award winning designer and artist specializing in jewelry, home decor and luxury art. She is inspired by her desire to elevate daily living through design and aims to exemplify, celebrate and support black excellence through her high quality products and community focused actions. She is also a frequent lecturer and panelist at universities, design schools and business conference...

The History of Fashion and Design series begins with a tribute to Wilkes Bashford, the iconic name in San Francisco fashion. With his first store in Union Square in 1966, Wilkes Bashford became SF’s top trend-setter. He introduced young European designers like Brunello Cucinelli and Brioni, and was the very first in the city to carry popular names like Ralph Lauren and Alexander Julian. Wilkes des...

Smells of fresh bread filled the air as we interviewed Dan Giraudo, owner and CEO of Boudin Sourdough in San Francisco. This bakery has produced sourdough from the same starter used by Isidore Boudine back in 1849. Today, it is the oldest continually operating business in the city. With crisp tart edges and a fluffy core, this bread has become as iconic as the cable cars that pass it by. Tune in a...

Governor Gavin Newsom is the 40th Governor for the State of California. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Newsom has dedicated his career to bettering our city and state. He started as an entrepreneur, learning to navigate the world through business. When his talents were noticed by then Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr., Newsom was appointed to the Parking and Traffic Commission. From there his passion...

SF native Gregangelo Herrera is the Founder and Artistic Director of the most magical place one could visit – the Gregangelo Museum. Together with his Creative Director Marcelo Defreitas, Herrera has created a fantastic immersive arts experience in his own home on the west side of the city. Local and international artists alike help create this technicolor acrobatic dreamscape, with 27 unique room...

Carolyn Tyler is most famously known in San Francisco as a reporter and news anchor on KGO ABC7 News. She had an outstanding 32 year career chronicling some of the most important moments in SF history. Tyler detailed the long fight for marriage equality starting in 2004 and brought stories of social justice for African Americans to the forefront. She also reported extensively on the impacts of the...

Our guests on this week’s episode of Beyond The Fog Radio are a very creative bunch — and they happen to be Susan’s family! Sisters Blanche Brown (Susan’s mother), Julia Vitero, Ginger Irwin-Vitero, and Dolores Presley grew up in Berkeley, California in the 1940s and 1950s, when things were quite different from how they are today. These four amazing ladies were lucky enough to experience the tidal...

PJ Johnston is one of SF’s top crisis communications specialists and political strategists. From former journalist and Press Secretary for Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. to speech writing for US Senator Kamala Harris, PJ Johnston has helped many influential people achieve their goals. He is the Principal of PJ Johnston Communications, where most of his high profile work is done. He likewise serves on t...

Stan Flouride (alias cum art-name of Kevin Kearny) is the unofficial historian of one of the city’s most eccentric neighborhoods, the Haight Ashbury. Stan gives historical walking tours that cover everything from the 1870s to today, with great focus on its role as a pivotal location for the cultural revolutions of the 1960s. Having inherited a strong love of history and a keen sense of justice fro...